How long should kite lines last?

[kiteswede]

Hello kiters

One youtube clip say that you should change lines every year. Let say if you kite 30 times a year and rinse the bar with fresh water everytime thoroughly?

My lines connected to the kite is nice, but one power rope near the bar, the threads start to loosen up and some are cracked. Bought the bar last summer.

[Exal]

Interesting topic and I am still not really sure. So much comes into play here: manufacturer of the bar/lines, riding style (powered/cruiser), kiting 200 days a year vs 50. I have every 6 months for the frequent kiter and 3/4 seasons for the not so much kiter as a mental note. I am also not sure when you should change the bar entirely to prevent them from breaking. Happy to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

[plummet]

Also are a looper or not. looping kites wears lines faster.
Plus will you die if they break? if yes replace them more often, if no.... push the limts.

I think 100-150 sessions seems reasonable. Thats one hard year, 2 years medium use, 3 years light use.

[GTC]

With 30 sessions a year your lines should last much longer. It also depends a lot on your riding style.

[evan]

Years is too arbitrary, even counting hours is too inacurate as cruizing along without ever having crossed lines from rotations/loops can have your lines last 2-4x that of the lines that see more extensive use that big-air riders or racers put into their gear.

This is the order of riding styles from the most to least demanding on the flying lines from my experience:
- Hydrofoil Racing
- Big-air/megaloops/wakestyle
- Freeride hydrofoil (lots of loops)
- Freeride twintip/waveriding
- Cruizing

Racing ranked as the highest because at higher levels you ride constantly on the edge of overpowerd and crossing the lines every tack and gybe. I replace multiple sets a year on my own bars and training partner with an average of 2-4 sessions a week.

Wear on the depower rope/flagout line heavily depends on the bar design and how much you push/grind the bar against the depower rope while riding. Most riders have a bad habit of leaning on the bar, thus grinding the bar with a lot of force over the depower rope. Greatly reducing the life of both the bar and rope that runs through it.
Rinsing your bar at the start of the session and remebering to not grind the bar along the depower rope can extend the life by multiple factors.

Evan - Infexion

[sarc]

It depends a lot on type of line.

I've had North lines break on me twice (I didn't die... but never used a North as front line after the 2nd snap)
Using maybe 100 sessions/year...

Been using Q-Power lines for fronts for last 15 years. I have a set of q-power pro that I retired after 10 solid years (1000+ sessions...) just out of spite... they looked almost new
My current set is Q-power regular (not pro), it's thicker than the pro but much cheaper and they look 100% new after 4 years riding.

I am currently using cabrinha as back lines (they typically carry 10-20Kg max load as steering lines, maybe a bit more when you crash, so they mostly wear if you rub them on rocks etc.). Have some fuzz on them after 2 years, but good enough for their job as steering lines.

[pj sofine]

I've got some ss bars that are 7 yrs old and the lines are fine.The depower rope lasts me 2 yrs and the safety flag out line about the same as the depowerer line. No idea how many sessions are on them. Bought a switch bar couple of years ago and the whole bar wore out very quickly for some reason, guess longevity depends a lot on the brand.

[jumptheshark]

Very hard to gauge. If and when people really get into this sport, It's smart to have a few bars. Keep the freshest stuff for the windy days, and use older stuff for med to light winds. Example: The fresher bar for your 9m and down then use the older one for your bigger kites, or, your fresh stuff for wave/TT riding and older stuff for foiling or winter. It generally works out the newer stuff gets far less use and stays in great condition much longer.

As a minimalist, you have to turn over gear appropriately to maintain acceptable risk, but as a "collector" it doesn't take long to have a quiver of gear that suits different conditions. Spreading the use over a number of line sets hugely increases life span. My pearly white newest lines stay that way nearly indefinitely as they get very little use, where the dingy ones are used for years and years without issue for lower stress riding. I have no fear of actually using old line sets to their death..... which can literally take a decade with basic maintenance.

Once lines get a little too fuzzy at the point they cross, you learn to shorten them. A couple sets of extensions are great for preserving line length as they go on the kite end and never cross.

Currently I run about a half dozen bars and have a couple sets of extensions. They are all my preferred models, in great shape and the whole lot cost me less than one new click bar.

The odd time something gets damaged, its doesn't even dent your mood. You just grab another and rip your session, knowing you have a project waiting the next time there's a wind drought.

Another benefit is real familiarity with safety systems, trim, replacing depower lines, leaders, and tuning. I have a couple 5 line bars, 3 above bar trim, a couple with no trim or CL, and always keep one super minty stock universal bar with loads of trim range that will work with any four line kite out there. Only takes a couple minutes to swap out a set of lines on any of them. Get comfy with a simple Brummel splice and a few knots and your free from the plasticised inflation that kite gear is prone too.

Bottom line, get more than one and learn to maintain em. You save, time and money and figuring out what needs to change and when becomes pretty simple.

[FLandOBX]

There are so many variables. Riding style and brand are just two. Another is how you treat your lines when not riding. If lines get looped around a rock or a buried shell when you're getting ready to launch, do you jerk them a couple of times to free them, or are you more careful? Are your bars left in the hot sun or a hot car, or do you store them in protected climate controlled space? Have you ever had a knot in a line and, if so, how did you go about removing it?

Instead of how long should kite lines last, maybe a better question is, how often should you unroll your lines with the sole purpose of checking them for wear? In my experience, trouble spots are usually visible before a line breaks.

[Cefirmeza]

Have you ever had a knot in a line and, if so, how did you go about removing it?

How do you remove a knot properly?

What are the pros/cons of not doing anything about it?